Pvt. Thomas M. Tumbrink was a firefighter with the University City Fire Department, located in St. Louis County. He was hurt while on duty at the age of 23. He had retrieved a woman about 50 years of age or more from the 2nd floor of her home that had caught on fire due to an electrical shortage in the wiring. When he revived her on the front lawn, she indicated that her "baby" was inside. Tommy went back into the home and discovered that her "baby" was actually her dog. He grabbed the lifeless dog from underneath the upstairs bed and started down the front steps. His steel oxygen tank timer was in the alarm mode, indicating that he had 5 minutes of air left in his tank. He went down the steps from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor front door area with the dog in his arms when the tread and the risers of the wooden steps gave out due to the fire. The steel air tank caused a very severe and traumatic bruising to the small of his back. In the subsequent months, it was learned that this injury started a cancerous growth in the small of his back that turned into a huge mass. Thomas then fought for the next 3 years until the cancer metastasized all throughout his abdomen, and he died at the age of 26 in my arms. Most of the fire departments in St. Louis County and St. Charles County that belong to I.A.F.F. Local # 2665 bear the name "Thomas Tumbrink Hall." Thomas and his twin brother, Timothy, were the first set of twins in the Tumbrink family. Thomas was one of 10 children.
Pvt. Thomas M. Tumbrink was a firefighter with the University City Fire Department, located in St. Louis County. He was hurt while on duty at the age of 23. He had retrieved a woman about 50 years of age or more from the 2nd floor of her home that had caught on fire due to an electrical shortage in the wiring. When he revived her on the front lawn, she indicated that her "baby" was inside. Tommy went back into the home and discovered that her "baby" was actually her dog. He grabbed the lifeless dog from underneath the upstairs bed and started down the front steps. His steel oxygen tank timer was in the alarm mode, indicating that he had 5 minutes of air left in his tank. He went down the steps from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor front door area with the dog in his arms when the tread and the risers of the wooden steps gave out due to the fire. The steel air tank caused a very severe and traumatic bruising to the small of his back. In the subsequent months, it was learned that this injury started a cancerous growth in the small of his back that turned into a huge mass. Thomas then fought for the next 3 years until the cancer metastasized all throughout his abdomen, and he died at the age of 26 in my arms. Most of the fire departments in St. Louis County and St. Charles County that belong to I.A.F.F. Local # 2665 bear the name "Thomas Tumbrink Hall." Thomas and his twin brother, Timothy, were the first set of twins in the Tumbrink family. Thomas was one of 10 children.
